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The car was found abandoned and Hatton, of Kingsbury Road, Mackworth, was seen walking away from it and was arrested.

He denied he had been driving the car but the keys were found in his pocket.

Miss King said the second theft took place at B&Q in Sutton-in-Ashfield on November 30, 2016, where Hatton stole almost £2,700 of showers and the third happened at Massey's in Swadlincote Road, Woodville, on December 8, last year.

She said: "The defendant was spotted selecting a number of padlocks and was placing them in a black box.

"He took the box to the yard at the back and lifted it over the fence."

Miss King said £1,200 worth of locks were stolen by Hatton from the store.

One of the stores Richard Hatton targeted was Massey's in Woodville (Image: Google maps)

He pleaded guilty to the three thefts, dangerous driving and driving without a licence or insurance in relation to the Lincoln offence.

Sonal Ahya, for Hatton, said: "His repetition offending is unattractive and has been fuelled by a horrendous gambling addiction he has had for many, many, years.

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"The reality is that this defendant has been involved in theft for a number of years and there's no shying away from that."

Jailing Hatton for 16 months and disqualifying him from driving for two years, Judge Ebraham Mooncey said: "You have a horrendous number of previous convictions going back to 1991 when you first came before the court for robbery.

"Whole decades have passed by and you are still coming before the courts for dishonesty."